episode_0010
by fnovelpiaIf it were a first-time visitor, the tension-filled building of the Starcloud Guild, constructed with expensive marble that might make one mistake it for a restored temple from ancient Greece, was buzzing with nervous energy.
“Hurry up!”
“Summon all available members now!”
It was understandable given the incident at the Academy. And not just any incident—it happened within a Gate classified as F-grade.
For an ordinary mishap, things wouldn’t have been this chaotic.
The issue lay in the fact that the guild leader Lee Hyun-woo’s daughter, Lee Ji-hyun, was involved in the accident.
“What in the world is going on? It was her wedding day, and now she’s being summoned…”
“We’ll reschedule the date. The Association has sent official notices, causing quite a stir.”
However, being the guild leader with multiple wives, Lee Hyun-woo’s concern wasn’t solely for his daughter, Lee Ji-hyun.
While he ensured his children lacked nothing as the sons and daughters of the Starcloud Guild leader, summoning veteran hunters due to the danger faced by one child was unprecedented.
“The guild leader is entering.”
The clamor among the hunters of the Starcloud Guild began to subside.
“We apologize to all of you who had to gather urgently today… There have been reports of an incident inside the Gate where my daughter was involved, confirmed to be true.”
“They issued an official notice because your daughter was captured?”
“Is this the power of the Starcloud Guild?”
Upon the guild leader’s words, the hunters of the Starcloud Guild felt a weight on their shoulders, as if they had become part of a guild capable of even moving the Association unnecessarily.
“You’re going this far to save your daughter?”
“Are you out of your mind?”
Of course, the hunters, who were abruptly called in today after the password change, expressed their discontent.
“Please quiet down for a moment. Time is of the essence, so let me quickly explain the operation details and move on.
The reason we’ve gathered you all here urgently is not just because of my daughter. A succubus was suddenly discovered inside the Gate classified as F-grade, causing the magical energy emanating from the Gate to reach a level equivalent to an S-grade Gate, potentially leading to a dungeon break, according to the Association’s assessment.
Not only us, but hunters from other guilds have also received summons. As unforeseen circumstances may arise, please contact your families while en route.”
“What?!”
“A dungeon break?”
“And an S-grade one at that?”
The hunters began to feel unsettled at the words of Lee Hyun-woo, the guild leader of Starcloud.
A dungeon break.
This could be categorized into two types.
When the monsters inside a dungeon become overcrowded and start crossing over beyond the Gate, or when a sealed demon within the Gate awakens for some reason and emerges outside.
Hence, fear crept into the faces of the hunters.
The current situation clearly indicated that a succubus sealed within an F-grade Gate had awakened for some reason. To the extent that upon awakening, it possessed such formidable power that it could elevate an F-grade Gate, almost devoid of magical energy, to an S-grade Gate…
The grade of a Gate is determined by the number of demons present; thus, if numerous A-grade demons were gathered, the Gate would be classified as S-grade. Therefore, for a succubus alone to transform an S-grade Gate implied its significant strength.
S-grade… No, perhaps it was an SS-grade demon that appeared when the Gate was first created.
– The magical energy of the Gate continues to increase. We might witness an SS-grade Gate for the first time in history since Gates emerged.
And the hunters’ predictions were nearly accurate.
It was due to the shocking news heard by the leaders of the Starcloud Guild and other major guilds at the Association.
Due to the nation’s emergency situation, the bus carrying the hunters began running on an empty lane forcedly.
In this way, hunters from all over the country started to gather.
*
“Heuk heuk….”
“We need to run away quickly…!!”
“Can we just escape among ourselves?”
Except for Park Ah-jun, Lee Ji-hyun’s team members were running with all their might, beyond the point of feeling a foul taste in their mouths, squeezing out every ounce of strength.
Even Park Ah-young, who had broken her leg after confronting a succubus and was barely running with the help of others, had depleted almost all her strength just by resisting magical pressure.
“Hurry, we need to run…! That bastard… sacrificed himself for us… So, at least we should survive!”
Park Ah-young shouted at Cha Yoo-rin, looking back while biting her lip.
“Eating a bread of vitality might be faster!”
“Yeah, let’s eat quickly and go…!!”
Having faced off against a succubus and nearly exhausted all their strength just from magical pressure, they hadn’t made it far from the gate’s exit but had no choice but to take a brief rest.
Gulp gulp-!!
Eating bread for survival without even tasting it, they forced it into their mouths desperately, resembling refugees in their actions.
“Ugh-!”
Unable to bear it any longer, tears started flowing from Park Ah-young’s eyes.
Although Park Ah-jun had sacrificed himself, they were ultimately defeated individuals who had abandoned him and fled.
“If you’ve finished eating, let’s move quickly!”
Even Lee Ji-hyun, who could be considered the team leader, was so terrified by the newfound danger to their lives that she couldn’t make a rational decision and could only think about fleeing.
Therefore, there was no time, effort, or ability to understand the sorrow Park Ah-young was feeling right now.
“I… I’m out!!”
Having reached the gate’s exit, they could see many hunters guarding the gate.
“The academy students have safely exited!!”
“Everyone stop!! They might have been mentally manipulated. Let’s subdue them first!”
However, as if indicating that the ordeal was not over yet, the hunters began to subdue them. The fact that they had escaped unharmed from a place emitting magic power that could be classified as beyond S-rank to SS-rank was strange in itself.
“They haven’t been mentally attacked.”
“This kid here seems to have injured her leg.”
Soon, hunters who could confirm whether they had been mentally manipulated examined them, and when they found nothing wrong, Lee Ji-hyun’s team could finally be set free.
“Wait! Where is Park Ah-jun?”
Professor Kim Se-yeon, who had approached fully armed, suddenly noticed that one of the team members was missing and began to inquire about what had happened.
She had not been neglecting the situation. It’s just that from the moment the succubus appeared, the screen went blank, and her teleportation magic clearly activated but was torn apart, leaving her shocked. She immediately contacted the Hunter Association and couldn’t properly understand the situation.
“Well then. So, the friend named Park Ah-jun stayed behind, allowing you all to escape unharmed.”
As this could be crucial information, Guild Master Lee Hyun-woo of the Starcloud Guild stood up from his seat and approached Park Ah-young.
“Your brother?”
“Yes! So please hurry and save him!”
“…I’m sorry. And thank you. Thanks to your brother’s sacrifice, my daughter could survive. I promise a reward in his name.”
At Lee Hyun-woo’s words, Park Ah-young’s eyes began to tremble.
“Ah, sir… No, Guild Master, what are you saying? They might still be alive. So many S-rank and A-rank hunters have gathered here. Please, quickly, s-save them. You don’t even have to reward us…!”
“That’s not possible.”
The reply came from an Association staff member.
“Now that you’ve just become an adult academy student, I’m sorry, but the Association cannot permit it. Here, we strictly maintain vigilance and policy by collapsing the dungeon break to capture the succubus coming out of the gate as it crumbles.”
It was common knowledge that the dungeon break constantly spewed out monsters, becoming stronger over time.
However, it was never eternal. As the gate expelled stronger monsters, its ability to sustain itself diminished, eventually leading to its disappearance.
In this case, with the possibility of the gate crumbling as the sealed monster inside awakened into a dungeon break, the succubus emerged, posing a significant threat.
Therefore, rather than entering the gate to face an unknown-ranked succubus, the Association’s policy was to fortify the area outside the gate like a fortress, setting numerous traps and magic circles to minimize casualties.
“B-But! The succubus is from an F-rank gate, so it shouldn’t be that strong!”
Having experienced their strength firsthand, Bok Ah-young instinctively knew that the succubus was at least an A-rank monster.
However, she couldn’t admit it.
If they could at least capture an A-rank monster with minimal damage, then with the best S-rank hunters gathered here, they should be able to do so without casualties.
“Sigh… I’m sorry, but the current gate rank has been upgraded to S-rank. The succubus inside is also estimated to be S-rank.”
“T-That’s…”
Upon hearing the Association staff’s words, Bok Ah-young lowered her gaze, tears welling up once again.
Thus, the hunters began setting traps to their best ability until the succubus appeared. Powerful traps were set up immediately upon the emergence of the A-rank monster.
“….”
“Why, why isn’t it coming out?”
Four hours passed in this manner.
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